About

Debra Legg

Debra is a freelance writer, editor and Web content specialist by day and a mom by day and night. A graduate of West Virginia University who currently lives in South Carolina, her work as a reporter and columnist has been honored in West Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina. 9to5to9 formerly was a nationally syndicated column through McClatchy Tribune Media Services. You can reach her via email, though to be perfectly honest, Twitter and Facebook get cleared far more quickly than the inbox these days.

Between Big Guy and mom, there are 27 food allergies in the household, hence the Kids and Allergies portion of the blog. Big Guy also has asthma and bouts with eczema. Boots is allergy-free.

Boots
A big fan of the big mess, Boots likes Thomas the Tank Engine, Lighting McQueen and irritating his brother when he thinks he won’t get caught. He hates going to bed at night and being without his El.

Policies and disclosures

Unless otherwise noted, all products reviewed or mentioned in blog posts were purchased at full retail price — or at the best bargain I could find — for use in this household.

I will accept products submitted for review, but the review will note that the manufacturer provided the product. Submitting a product does not guarantee a positive review, but a fair evaluation based on my opinion. And the guys’ opinions, too, if applicable.

For some crazy reason – probably our “Cinnamon Roll Friday” tradition – the guys have decided that they’re entitled to a fresh-from-the-oven breakfast every morning of late. For some reason that’s even crazier, I’ve gone …

I’ve come to the conclusion recently that my perfect friend would be a geeky food-allergic liberal with quirky sense of humor, an obsessive interest in education issues and a tolerance for cute crap my kids …

It’s a good thing Accelerated Reader wasn’t around when I was in third grade. I doubt there would have been AR tests for the Perry Mason novels I loved.
For unindoctrinated uninitiated, Accelerated Reader bills itself …

By the way

Sometimes life is all about timing.
There’s a chance the soldier took his protective goggles off briefly during training in The Box – 1,000 barren square miles at Fort Irwin where soldiers prepare for desert warfare.
Then ...

Poor Boots. He wakes up every morning chirping with the birds and with a cheery greeting. “It’s a beautiful day!”
Somewhere along the line, though, the grind of the world beats the beauty out of it ...

There’s often a reason why Big Guy does the seemingly quirky things he does. A reason that makes sense only in his 5-year-old brain, but a reason nonetheless.
I usually don’t question, because if it’s genuinely ...

From the country that wants to censor the Internet worldwide in the name of protecting its children comes another bizarre project, also in the name of “protecting children”
The British have launched a database, at a ...

Do I ever feel like a dolt after my post last night lamenting the difficulties of finding dye-free snow-cone syrups.
I went to a Middle Eastern market today to pick up some hummus ingredients and ran ...

Six hundred and eight three killed in Afghanistan. Four thousand, two hundred and ninety six killed in Iraq. Many stories of incredible lives, often amazing sacrifices.
This is one such story.
Army Maj. Steven Hutchison survived two ...